Maratha Confederacy

The Maratha Confederacy (1674-1818) was a confederation of Hindu yeoman warrior groups from southern India that eventually brought down the Mughal Empire of northern India. Its capital was Satara, Bijapur.

History
The Marathas from Maharashtra were a lower caste of peasants, landowners, and soldiers, making up the Third Estate of Indian society. Leader Shivaji established a Hindu state in southern India through warfare with Aurangzeb, Emperor of the powerful Mughal Empire, which was of Muslim beliefs. The rebellion of Shivaji Maharaj became a long war between the Hindu Marathas and Muslim Mughals that lasted into the 18th century, and the Kingdom of Carnatica, Kingdom of Bijapur, and Kingdom of Maharashtra united to form a confederacy.

Tarabai I, Queen of the Marathas, fought Emperor Aurangzeb in the Deccan Wars in the early 1700s, and her rule saw the conquest of most of India as well as the opening of the Marathas to trade with France, Prussia, the Ottoman Empire, United Provinces, Great Britain, Mysore, and Russia, all foreign powers that were strong in prestiege and armies. Russian and British merchants arrived in Barcelor in the Goa region and sold their goods, and the Marathas made their profit mainly from the tea trade; their army upkeep overshadowed their tax income. By 1703, the confederacy had 17,339,848 people, one of the most populous empires on Earth (behind China).